Canadian exports of crude oil fell 2.4 percent month-on-month in November to 3.28 million barrels per day, Statistics Canada data said on Friday, after a decline in shipments to the United States.
The 80,000 bpd drop in exports to Canada’s biggest customer came in the same month TransCanada Corp’s Keystone pipeline, which carries crude from Alberta’s oil sands to U.S. refineries, was shut down following a leak in rural South Dakota.
Keystone restarted in late November but the 590,000 bpd pipeline is still running with a 20 percent cut in pressure on the orders of U.S. regulators.
Canada exported 3.26 million bpd to the United States in November, down from 3.34 million bpd in October. It also shipped 22,500 bpd to the United Kingdom, the data showed.
The country’s crude oil imports from the United States rose 127,000 bpd to 413,000 bpd, while total imports climbed 51,000 bpd to 635,000 bpd.
Canada also imported crude oil from Saudi Arabia, Nigeria and Norway in November.
Refineries in eastern Canada often import crude from overseas because it is easier to ship barrels by tanker to the Atlantic coast than move them on congested export pipelines and railroads from western Canadian oilfields.
(Reporting by Nia Williams; Editing by Andrew Hay)